OB-GYNs aim to deliver on the Hill

They rush to meetings, deal with crying babies, talk about contraception and fall behind on their schedules.

It’s the daily schedule for a typical obstetrician and gynecologist, but also for the lawmakers who were OB-GYNs before they ditched their white coats for pinstriped suits and became some of the most conservative and outspoken members of Congress.

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“We’re all Southern, conservative, and pro-life,” said Phil Roe of the four OB-GYN members of the House. “Loudmouthed and red-necked is also a good way to describe us.”

There are 20 physicians in the 112th Congress, but the four OB-GYN doctors in the House — and the one in the Senate — are aligned in their conservative ideology, frustration with the health care bureaucracy and distrust of Big Government. In their former careers as doctors in private practice, they say they saw up close how decisions made in Washington affected patients and doctors on the front lines. They fret constantly about the government’s impact on medical care and doctors, and they’re all adamantly anti-abortion.

There are only two Democratic lawmakers who are former doctors: Virgin Islands delegate Donna Christensen, an ER physician, and Washington Rep. Jim McDermott, a psychiatrist.

“When I first ran for Congress, it was right around the time the first SGR [doctor payment] cuts were coming into play,” said Michael Burgess, an OB-GYN physician who practiced for 25 years before coming to Congress. “This was going to clearly impact Medicare patients. That was part of what focused my attention on getting into politics.”

These doctors have been out front on some of the House’s highest priority, and most divisive, issues: repealing the health care law, passing anti-abortion legislation and pushing back against the Obama administration’s so-called contraceptive mandate that requires insurance plans to cover all FDA-approved birth control.

“Doctors are lifelong learners,” Burgess said. “I think that’s one of the things that makes doctors uniquely suited for the task of being a member of Congress, apart from the political, that we do seek out answers throughout our professional lives because that’s part of our makeup.”

Burgess, Roe and GOP Reps. Phil Gingrey of Georgia and Ron Paul of Texas have delivered a total of roughly 17,000 babies during their medical careers. Burgess, Roe and Gingrey all practiced medicine in the districts they represent, and a lot of those children are their constituents. Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn is a family practice doctor who has delivered thousands of babies and is one of the most outspoken conservatives in the Senate.

The Science Hill High School choir recently visited the Capitol from Johnson City, Tenn., and met with Dr. Roe. And as it turned out, the congressman delivered six of the 50 kids who showed up to visit.

“I’ve watched so many of the kids I’ve delivered grow up, they still live in the community,” Roe said. “As a congressman, I have a deeper connection to the people I serve because I’ve known so many of them since they were literally first born.”

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CORRECTION: Corrected by: Naira Ruiz @ 04/23/2012 11:03 AM
Correction: The story has been updated to clarify that Sen. Tom Coburn is a family practice doctor. The original version listed an incorrect specialty.